The outermost surface or covers of various sports balls, such as footballs and basketballs, are textured with protrusions or pebbles which are designed to create more friction and thus improve the gripability of the ball by the hands of the players using them. Most players consider grip to be a key element of their success. In general, the worse the grip of the sports balls, the worse the ball is believed to perform. When players of basketball and football in particular are unable to control and grip the ball, the result is usually believed to be bad for the player and the team in possession of the ball. Footballs and basketballs have a surface textured with protrusions or pebbles which are designed to create more friction and thus improve the grip. However, a need continues to exist to improve the grip of a sports ball to allow the player to better play the game.
These sports balls are often made with leather. Each hide of leather historically is stamped with a pebble texture in a random pattern, which, when cut into parts to build the sports balls, will result in a continuation of the random pebble texture regardless of the orientation of each part after assembly. The rules governing some sports require balls to be made with leather and stamped with a pebble grain. Older, worn out sports balls have less pebble depth due to wear and tear so balls with no or shallow pebble grain texture are not as desirable and believe to be at the end of its usefulness. A sports ball is believed to be better when the pebble grain is deeper and more defined. A deeper, more defined pebble embossing will result in a finished product that will last longer and is more desirable to athletes and players of a game.
Many leather finishers, processing plants or tanneries have very large hydraulic presses outfitted with metal embossing dies consisting of a negative three dimensional pattern of a randomly arranged pebble grain texture to be pressed into leather hides. Leather producers and finishers have embossed this pebble grain into the entire hide of leather using the random texture at tanneries for decades. The hydraulic press compresses the die into leather hides which leaves an impression in the hide when the die is released and separated from the leather. Then, the embossed hides are typically shipped to manufacturers who cut these hides into individual parts or panels to produce sports balls.
A full hide or half hide (also known as a side) of leather can be very large, depending upon the type and size of the animal used to produce the leather hide. A side of cowhide, for example, can be as large as 25 square feet or larger. A problem exists when hides are so large that each hide has to be partially stamped, moved and stamped again to emboss 100 percent of the surface of the hide. In this situation, a seam is visible on the finished surface of the leather which is considered undesirable in manufacturing. Often times, manufacturers avoid these seams and cut around them, which results in much lower cutting yield and an increase in production cost.
Another problem exists when stamping large hides. According to the laws of physics, when embossing or stamping leather, the larger the surface area to be embossed, the more force will be required to make the desired impression into the leather. So, hundreds of tons of force are needed to stamp large hides of leather with pebble grain. Since hides vary greatly depending upon the size and type of each animal, embossing depth is very inconsistent due to the size or surface area of each hide being stamped. This result is undesirable to any manufacturer that desires a deeper, more defined pebble in sports balls.
Further, certain areas of animal hides are comprised of more dense fibers than other areas. For example, the shoulder and back area of hides usually consists of harder, more dense fibers than the belly area which is normally softer and less dense. When an entire or partial hide is being embossed or compressed by the tannery, the dense grain will restrict the downforce of the die and result in less embossing in less dense parts of the hide that would normally be pressed more deeply since the fibers are softer and offer less resistance. Also, for the largest of the hides, existing machinery may lack the tonnage necessary to apply enough pressure for a deep, permanent embossed pebble grain texture. Therefore the hide is often times stamped unevenly or inadequately with pebble texture by the tannery. Then, when the manufacturer receives the undesirable hide and cuts it into parts or panels, the result is inconsistently embossed panels which are undesirable to users of the sports balls. Many times the manufacturer of sports balls is required to scrap or discount footballs with little or no pebble texture, which increases production costs.
Another problem exists when receiving hides pre-embossed by tanneries. Prior to foil stamping or printing manufacturer, brand and/or team logos, the pre-embossed pebble grain needs to be flattened or made smooth so foil, ink or a film transfer can be properly applied to the pre-embossed leather panels. In order to flatten the pre-embossed pebble grain in certain areas of a sports ball panel, tons of pressure and high heat are required to emboss a flat space or area for the manufacturer brand or team logo is necessary. Often times, so much pressure and heat is required that the pre-embossed leather sports ball panels will shrink, expand and/or curl which creates additional problem for manufacturers of sports balls. Further, the need to flatten the pebbles pre-embossed by a tannery adds an additional step in the manufacturing process which adds cost and potential defects.